The present invention relates to a handy phone, portable video camera or similar portable electronic apparatus powered by a removable battery and, more particularly, to a portable electronic apparatus capable of preventing a battery pack from slipping out.
An electronic apparatus of the kind described has a casing and a battery pack removably mounted to a mounting portion included in the casing. Usually, the mounting portion has a stationary hook and a movable hook while the battery pack has a first and a second recess for mating with the stationary hook and movable hook, respectively. A release button is mounted on the casing in order to release the movable hook from the second recess. To remove the battery pack from the casing, the release button is pressed to release the movable hook from the second recess. As a result, the battery pack is unlocked from the casing and can be pulled out by hand. An electronic apparatus of the type holding a battery pack on its casing with the above movable hook and recess is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-344042.
However, the conventional apparatus relying on the movable hook and recess scheme lacks an implementation for preventing the battery pack from slipping out of the casing by accident. Therefore, even when the release button is pressed by accident, the movable hook is released from the associated recess and causes the battery pack to drop from the casing. The battery pack dropped from the casing is often damaged or damages objects surrounding it.
To solve the above problem, extra locking members may be added to the casing and battery pack. However, the extra locking members increase the number of constituent parts, complicate the construction, and increase the overall size of the apparatus. This is undesirable from the portability standpoint.